Al Barron

Al Barron studied mathematics and statistics at Rutgers University. In 1986, while still in graduate school, Johnson & Johnson hired him, and he has worked in preclinical biostatistics ever since. Barron's work experience includes construction and shipyard work, as well as teaching math at the high school and community college levels. His wife also has a background in math, and (not surprisingly) his son is about to graduate with a degree in math. Barron has been involved in politics for most of his life and has recently served two elected terms on his local board of education.

How long have you been using SAS®?

27 years.

What SAS products have you used in the past? What products and solutions are you currently using?

Base SAS, SAS/STAT®, SAS/IML® and SAS/GRAPH®.

What is a problem you have solved using SAS?

I've used SAS to help make sense of sample data in a fast and efficient way.

What is the most innovative way you have used SAS?

I have been using SAS as an analytical bridge supporting research scientists' development plans.

What is your most memorable SAS moment?

When I was first learning how to fit data with PROC GLM (about 1986), I managed to get a negative sum of squares. I still have the printout as a keepsake, though I have been unable to reproduce the error since.

How has SAS changed in the time you have been using it?

SAS software has grown from a set of statistical tools into a full programming language for data management.

Have you ever attended a SAS users group meeting or SAS Global Forum? If yes, please list them.

Unfortunately, no.

Has your work with SAS been influenced by any other members of the SAS community?

I have read through most of the SUGI Proceedings. Just recently, I caught up with the volumes of Proceedings that we did not have in the office library – the first (1976) and fifth (1980).